New Orleans Pelicans @ Chicago Bulls
Wednesday, December 31, 2025 at 7:00 PM ET
United Center, Chicago, IL | Game ID: 22500466
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
CHI 36 31 30 37 134NOP 32 30 28 28 118
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Okoro's season-high 24 points lead short-handed Bulls past Pelicans 134-118
CHICAGO -- — Isaac Okoro scored a season-high 24 points, Tre Jones added 20 points and 12 assists and the depleted Chicago Bulls topped the New Orleans Pelicans 134-118 on Wednesday night.
Matas Buzelis had 19 points, Jalen Smith had 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Nikola Vucevic had 17 points for a Chicago team playing without its top two scorers in Josh Giddey and Coby White , who were injured in a loss to Minnesota on Monday night and are expected to miss several games.
All five Chicago starters reached double figures, as did three bench players — Ayo Dosunmu , Kevin Huerter and Patrick Williams .
Zion Williamson led New Orleans with 31 points and Jordan Poole added 26 off the bench in the team's fifth straight loss.
The Bulls asserted their up-tempo style, scoring 25 points on the fast breaks, while holding their own with the Pelicans in the paint (60 points to 56).
Chicago leveraged New Orleans fouls in an game that often turned physical. Chicago connected on 25 of 34 on free throws for the game after struggling from the stripe in the first half.
Chicago led 97-90 entering the fourth quarter, then opened the lead to 17 points.
Giddey (left hamstring tightness) will be reevaluated in two weeks and White (right calf tightness) in one, the team said Sunday. The Bulls also said center Zach Collins (sprained right toe) will be reevaluated in 10 days. He missed Monday’s game.
Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado served the second of a two-game suspension stemming from his fight on Saturday night with Phoenix’s Mark Williams .
Chicago led 67-62 at the half.
Okoro scored 16 points in the opening 24 minutes. Williamson consistently plowed into the paint to score 20 of his, including nine in a row late in the second quarter.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
NOPDQ D. Queen
JF J. Fears
JH J. Hawkins
JP J. Poole
KL K. Looney
MP M. Peavy
SB S. Bey
TM T. Murphy III
YM Y. Missi
ZW Z. Williamson
CHIAD A. Dosunmu
DT D. Terry
IO I. Okoro
JC J. Carter
JS J. Smith
KH K. Huerter
MB M. Buzelis
NV N. Vučević
PW P. Williams
TJ T. Jones
VU Vucevic
NOP/CHI the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur